Tag Archives: Amoeba

This message comes to you from The Mint where I am attending one of the coolest events I’ve been to recently, Overture Con. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Bad Wolf, Cadaver Dogs, Queen Caveat, and Semi Precious Weapons. There were informative panels about DIY activities, fashion in music, etc. plus some exclusive opportunities like a Bad Wolf acoustic performance and an advance listen to the Cadaver Dogs CD (made into an intense drinking game). The focus of the event is to connect super fans like myself to their favorite bands and by the end of the day everyone in attendance felt like family to me. Today promises to be similar with a new set of bands like Honor Society who, as I write this, is talking about the notion of living in a box and detailing the unique smell of their dressing room.

Later today, I will be on a panel talking about my life as a super music fan, part of which includes my obsessive desire to put together these calendars every week in my attempt to spread the music love…speaking of, this week promises to be another good one! I’m thrilled that Irish brotherly duo Hudson Taylor booked another show (Monday at Bardot) and I’m equally pumped about Atlanta’s The Shadowboxers who are finally coming to LA playing The Viper Room on Wednesday.

To Keep in Mind:
May 28th: Lissie at Masonic Lodge at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery
May 28th: Cary Brothers at The Hotel Cafe
May 29th: Tyler Hilton and Curtis Peoples at Saint Rocke
May 29th/30th: Imagine Dragons at Hollywood Palladium
May 31st: CHVRCHES at Fonda Theater
June 1st: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Wiltern
June 1st: CHVRCHES at The Troubadour
June 1st: Make Music Pasadena
June 4th: Willy Moon at The Troubadour
June 5th: Jewel at Saban Theatre
June 5th: Atomic Tom at The Hotel Cafe
June 6th: Meg Myers and Dear Boy at The Troubadour
June 6th: Capital Cities at The El Rey
June 7th: The Boxer Rebellion at Avalon
June 7th/8th: Jubilee Music Festival
June 8th: Bjork at Hollywood Palladium
June 13th: Fall Out Boy at The Wiltern
June 22nd: The Staves at Bootleg Bar
June 23rd: Guster, Barenaked Ladies, and Ben Folds Five at The Greek Theatre
June 25th: Rachael Yamagata at The Troubadour
June 27th: Bernhoft at The Troubadour
July 1st: Anberlin at The Roxy
July 19th: Passenger at El Rey Theatre
July 23rd: Savages at The El Rey
July 23rd/24th: The Postal Service at The Greek Theatre
August 8th: The Silent Comedy at Fonda Theatre
August 19th/20th: Ed Sheeran at The Staples Center
September 4th: Tegan and Sara at The Greek Theatre
September 26th: Hanson at House of Blues Sunset
October 1st: Jake Bugg at Fonda Theatre

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Last week almost made me glad that I came back from vacation. From the phenomenal Birdy to new discovery SHEL to finally seeing The Dunwells to a private Dead Sara show to goth rock icon Peter Murphy to a hometown The Silent Comedy party, it was a busy week. The highlight had to be my impromptu run-in with the lead singer of Biffy Clyro, Simon Neil, outside The Roxy Monday night. I was shaky for days after and the slight persistent delirium really helped me through a difficult week back at the office.

Next week will have to be quite research-centric for me, but I am hoping to get out a time or two especially to see a couple former LA-based artists that have sadly left (Jay Nash and Truth & Salvage Co.).

Tuesday: The Other Side of Morning and The Trews at The Viper Room (9,10)
ALSO: Everest FREE at Amoeba (7pm)
ALSO: Western Scene FREE at Origami Vinyl (7pm)
ALSO: Tori Rogg at Room 5 (8pm)
ALSO: Chris Price and Mike Viola at Bootleg Bar (7, 7:30)
ALSO: So & So at Bootleg Bar (10:30)…different show from the one above
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: Polica at The Echoplex (8:30)
ALSO: Free Dominguez and Ours at The Roxy (7:30)
ALSO: Brandi Carlile at House of Blues Anaheim
ALSO: Casey Abrams at The Key Club (7pm)
ALSO: Beachwood’s Summer Piano Bar Sessions FREE at The Piano Bar (8pm)

Weds: Jay Nash and Garrison Starr at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Act As If at On the Rox (10pm)
ALSO: David and Devine at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Makepeace Brothers at WitZend (9pm)
ALSO: Jared Lee at The Viper Room (10pm)

Sunday: VH1 Save the Music Benefit at The Hotel Cafe featuring Keaton Simons, Curtis Peoples, and more (8pm)

To Keep in Mind:
August 28th: High Voltage Party at Tripp
September 1st & 2nd: FYF at Downtown LA
September 4th: Gotye at The Greek Theatre
September 7th: The Silent Comedy at The El Rey
September 9th: The Ataris at The Roxy
September 14th: Teitur at The Hotel Cafe
September 14th: The Hives at The Wiltern
September 20th: Howie Day at The Hotel Cafe
September 22nd: Epicenter at Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre
September 22nd: Sondre Lerche at The Troubadour
October 1st: Ed Sheeran at The Wiltern
October 1st: Safety Suit at The Roxy
October 2nd: Garbage at The Hollywood Palladium
October 2nd: The Lumineers at The Fonda Theatre
October 4th: The Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
October 6th: Ben Howard at The Fonda Theatre
October 11th: Awolnation and Imagine Dragons at Club Nokia
October 16th: First Aid Kit at The Fonda Theatre
October 19th: Tony Lucca at The Roxy
October 19th: Frightened Rabbit at The Troubadour
October 19th: Allen Stone at The Music Box
October 20th: Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers at Saint Rocke
October 24th: The Darkness at Club Nokia
October 25th: Bayside at Club Nokia
November 2nd: NEEDTOBREATHE at Fox Theater Pomona
November 3rd: All American Rejects at The Wiltern
November 6th: Jens Lekman at Fonda Theatre
November 16th: Joshua Radin and A Fine Frenzy at The Wiltern
November 20th: The Postelles and Mayday Parade at House of Blues
November 20th: Rachel Yamagata at The El Rey

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Well…that was certainly an eventful weekend. Friday night I had a very ominous feeling before going to the El Rey to join a friend for Adam Gontier (of Three Days Grace) and Martin Sexton. At the end of the evening, I ended up in fascinating company at my fave late night eatery and I thought my gut must have been waaay off. Three hours later, sleepless and in the ER with a friend, my earlier instincts were justified.

Saturday, I cancelled my plans to participate in Tyrone Well’s music video shoot in Venice for sleep’s sake. Then it was an evening at The Rainbow Room and The Hotel Cafe with great food, friends, and music (the three essentials of any successful evening).

Today I had to cut myself off from the world and lock myself in lab as I had entered the weekend woefully behind on an important deadline at work and that I have two big presentation to give in the next seven days. This week is going to be rough…thankfully there are a few choice shows to pull me through. Here are my options:

Sunday: The Swell Season at McCabe’s (8pm)
ALSO: Twin Atlantic and You Me at Six at Chain Reaction in Anaheim (7pm)
ALSO: Jonah Matranga at The Hotel Cafe (8:30)

To Keep in Mind:
Feb. 14th: Twin Atlantic and You Me at Six at The Troubadour
Feb. 17th: Ryan Adams at The Hollywood Bowl
Feb. 18th: Mayday Parade at The El Rey
Feb. 19th: The Darkness at House of Blues Sunset
Feb. 20th: Milo Greene at The Satellite
Feb. 22nd: Will Dailey and Mariah McManus at The Hotel Café
Feb. 22nd: Imagine Dragons at The Viper Room
Feb. 27th: Dead Sara at The Viper Room
March 5th: Scars on 45 at The Troubadour
March 5th-6th: Dan Wilson and Rachel Yamagata at The Hotel Cafe
March 8th: Crash Kings at The Troubadour
March 9th: William Fitzsimmons at The Troubadour
March 10th: Nico Vega at The Roxy
March 13th-18th: SXSW (Austin, TX)
March 14th: The Pretty Reckless at The HOB Sunset
March 18th: Dia Frampton at The Troubadour
March 20th: Needtobreathe and Ben Rector at Club Nokia
March 22nd: The Lumineers at The Hotel Cafe
March 24th: Ani DiFranco at The Orpheum Theater
March 24th and 25th: Allen Stone at The Troubadour
March 31st: Tyrone Wells at The Roxy
April 1st: Charlotte Martin at The Bootleg Bar
April 13th-15th AND 20th– 22nd: Coachella
April 25th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
April 27th: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
May 8th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium
June 13th and 14th: Phantom Planet at The Troubadour

This is one of the BEST CDs currently in my player. I’ve said it before, but Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale (AKA The Milk Carton Kids) are the second coming of Simon & Garfunkel…if Simon & Garfunkel could make you both laugh to the point of crying. There is no excuse for anyone not to get this CD as it is being offered for free on The Milk Carton Kids website. Pay close attention to the tour dates because this show is one you don’t want to miss.

“Michigan” is the first song off the album. It was days before I could move on to track to because I just had this one on repeat.

Bay area rockers, Bird by Bird, were in town on Saturday playing On the Rox. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this duo of Jonathan Devoto and Ross Traver, but of course Saturday was the day of a million shows and I couldn’t make it. Guess I’ll have to go the download route (http://birdbybird.bandcamp.com/) on this one as the only shows the band have scheduled are up in Nor Cal. Even though I’ll have to wait a bit longer to see them live, at least now I have something new for the ears.

My Philadelphia brethren, The War on Drugs, have a new album. I’ve only heard bits of it, but some of my favorite musicians are associated with this band, so you’d better bet I’m going to go out and get it! Their 2008 album, Wagonwheel Blues, boasted tunes like “Taking The Farm” and “Arms Like Boulders” which still find their way onto my playlists. The War on Drugs is coming to The Satellite October 22nd.

Ten Out of Tenn is a collective of artists based in Nashville, TN. Individually they are all amazing singer-songwriters, Butterfly Boucher, Andrew Belle, Trent Dabbs, Katie Herzig, etc. Together, the ten (or so) artists travel around the country together playing their music and combining their skills to form a sort of super group. Their albums, including today’s release, Volume 4, come across as compilation CDs, giving the listener a taste of each individual voice. I love this concept! Ten Out of Tenn is currently out on tour. I wouldn’t miss it…

Because I just saw him last Friday, here is Ten Out of Tenn featuring Andrew Belle’s “The Ladder”

Other CDs coming out today:

Blue October has a new one out today called Any Man in America. I am a huge fan of this band’s debut album and am looking forward to see what they sound like these days. Their album today is only $3.99 on Amazon.com…this does not sound like a bad deal to me…

Fool’s Gold is a band based in LA I keep meaning to check out. Maybe having their new album, Leave No Trace, will encourage me to do so. They are playing at The Amoeba in Hollywood tomorrow, August 17th, at 7pm

The Parson Red Heads is another LA based band. I saw them open for Truth & Salvage Co. and I recall enjoying their performance. I’m hoping their CD, Yearling, is equally enjoyable!

Happy New Music Day!

~ Kristen

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The list may look a little long this week and that’s because I’m going to be internet-less next weekend and well…I don’t want that to leave everyone concertless. Of course, the reason I’ll be without connection to the world is because we’re going to that magical place called Bonnaroo and I refuse to spend my energies on finding power and WiFi…I’m not even bringing my computer (*gasp*). I’m sure we’ll be updating everyone on our journey via twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/_localmusicnat). At least until I have to choose between charging my phone and running to the next set (you can guess what will win).

I’ll working on a “most anticipated acts of Bonnaroo” post, so keep your eyes out. In the meantime, for those of you not venturing to Tennessee, LA still has a lot to offer this week in terms of live music. Enjoy!

Monday: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: The Californian at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: Fat City Reprise at Rhino Records Pop Up Store in Santa Monica (8pm) http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201749359870269
ALSO: Indians at La Cita (10pm)

June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 24th: Rooney at The El Rey
June 25th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 14th: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 22nd: Langhorne Slim at The Echo
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18th: The Veronicas at The Viper Room
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

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Amanda and I are in New York City at the moment. Just came back from seeing the boys of Carney rock Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark (again). They made some changes in the second half that I loved. As you know, we ventured to the east coast because my first favorite band, Pepper’s Ghost, had a reunion show at The Grape Room, Saturday in Philadelphia (their first show since 2007…). There are no words to describe how I felt about seeing this band play again. The whole day, really, spent with some of my favorite people and seeing a couple of my top bands (we also went to Northstar to catch a bit of Alright, Junior’s set) is bound to go down as one of the best days of my year…hopefully I’ll find some time to put up some pictures and, fingers crossed, video (!) soon.

But, in the meantime, we’ve got lots of great shows to look forward to this week in LA! Can’t wait to get back (and not just because I’m freezing my fingers off over here)! Here’s what I’d like to do:

Sunday: George Stanford at The Hotel Cafe
ALSO: Against Me! at The Music Box (8pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at O’Briens

To Keep in Mind:

Feb 1st: Patrick Park at The Hotel Café
Feb. 1st: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
Feb 5th: The Silent Comedy at El Rey
Feb 9th: Sarah McLaughlin at Nokia Live
Feb 9th: Tina Dico at The Troubadour
Feb 16th: Nicole Atkins at The Troubadour
Feb. 16th: Scars on 45 at The Hotel Cafe
Feb. 20th: Beth Hart at The Echoplex
Feb 26th: Josh Ritter and Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit) at The Music Box
March 1st: Biffy Clyro at The Troubadour
March 3rd: Civil Twilight at The Troubadour
March 4th: After Midnight Project at The Roxy
March 22nd: War on Drugs at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

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This week I write to you from San Diego. Tonight I have a ticket to go see The Silent Comedy open for Mumford & Sons. Needless to say, there is a great deal of excitement involved. Friday night The Silent Comedy played at The Royal Dive in Oceanside so I decided to make a weekend of it in San Diego. Not that it’s been all fun and games…actually it’s mostly been paper-writing, but the change of location was good I suppose. And I get to see one of my favorite bands twice! And speaking of the marvelous The Silent Comedy, they are coming back up to LA June 17th. Playing a NEW VENUE called Speakeasy over in the Silverlake area. Also playing that night: Queen Caveat! It’s gonna be a good one, so mark your calendar!

But if you want to know what to put on your calendar this week, here’s what I’ve got on mine:

Monday: Paris Carney, Songwriters in the Round (featuring Kathryn Ostenberg, Joel Eckels, Buddy, and Brother Sal), Jay Nash at Room 5 (8, 9, 10:30)…are you seeing this line-up!?! A good night to check out my favorite place to hang Monday nightsALSO: it’s a school night at Bardot featuring Super Secret Act (10pm)…I semi-recall them saying something about Hot Hot Heat, but no matter who it is, it will be a fun night, but don’t forget to RSVP (http://itsaschoolnight.com/)ALSO: Thao and Mirah with The Most of All at Bootleg (10pm)
ALSO: The Delta Spirit FREE at Amobea (7pm)
ALSO: Abbot Kinney at Molly Malone’s (9pm)…Jared from Abbot Kinney starts his month long residency at Molly Malone’s…AKA Abbot Kinney’s Summer of Exploding Hearts

Thursday: BONNAROO BEGINS! Let’s take this moment to lament the fact that I am not there…silly classes having everything due this weekALSO: Ian Axel, Amber Rubarth, Holly Conlan, TD Lind, and No Country at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)…just go for Ian and stay til the end…seriously good night of musicALSO: Chantal Kreviazuk at The Mint (9pm)
ALSO: Fitz and the Tantrums at Spaceland (10pm)
ALSO: Amber Pacific at Whiskey a Go-Go (7pm)

Saturday: Greg Laswell, Brian Wright, and SO & So at The Hotel Cafe (8, 9, 10)…The Greg Laswell/Brian Wright portion of the evening seems to be Sold out, but go see So & So…ALSO: Mayer Hawthorne at The Ghetty (6pm)

Sunday: Greg Laswell, Brian Wright, and Austin Hartley Leonard at The Hotel Cafe (7, 8, 9)…this one, not sold out last I checkedALSO: Beth Hart and Garrison Starr at The Echoplex (8pm)
ALSO: Taproot at Whiskey a Go Go (8pm)

To Keep in Mind:June 17th: The Other Side of Morning at The House of Blues
June 17th: Queen Caveat and The Silent Comedy at Speakeasy
June 25th: Warped Tour in LA
June 25th: The Rescues CD Release at The Troubadour
June 21st: Carney at The Troubadour
June 21st: Gaslight Anthem at El Rey
July 7th: Carbon Leaf at The Troubadour
July 8th: Michelle Branch at Greek Theater
July 10th: Lilith Fair
July 18th: The Swell Season and Bird and the Bee at Hollywood Bowl
July 30-31st: Morceeba at Hollywood Bowl
August 12th: Semi Precious Weapons at Staples Center (with Lady GaGa)
September 25th: Band of Horses at Greek Theater
September 25th: Muse at Staples Center